“No, I’m not running late father, I have an hour to get to the hospital. The new apartment I moved into is only about a fifteen-minute walk away.” Melanie rolled her eyes, and decided not even to address her father’s stupid idea of moving home to shack up with Ethan Carr. They had gone to high school together and he weird, she’d rather eat glass then suffer his company.
“Oh yes, I forgot you moved. Well then, good luck today let me know how it all goes. Just, try to be realistic. Those internships are hard to get, especially…”
“Of course father, I’m prepared either way, but I did graduate top of my class.” She had told him that several times, and he had been at her graduation when they had honored her. He seemed to ignore it all that though. She wanted to scream.
“Well I better go father. I want to try out a new coffee shop down the block before I go. Thanks for calling.”
“You should dump that coffee habit Melanie, you’re a doctor you need to set an example for your patients. Coffee is not a good habit.”
“Of course father. Talk to you later.” Melanie wanted to throw her phone across the room when she hung up. She had to take a few breaths to calm herself.
She refused to let her father bring her down today, or any giant Shifters crashing into her. At the memory of her humiliation she turned her glare back towards the giant across the room. He looked completely calm as he leaned his huge figure against the wall. He was probably the most rugged man she had ever seen. He had dark brown unruly hair, his shoulders seemed to be as wide as she was tall. She couldn’t help but wonder if she hugged him if she could even wrap her arms all the way around his chest. He was built like a statue. He said something about a bear earlier, which had her wondering what kind of bear he shifted into.
Chapter Three
Tye
Tye had been right. The group that had received letters were the ones who had been chosen for the internship. Why they didn’t just put that in the letter and save everybody another week of stress? Humans. Everybody started to file out of the small room, and on with their lives. They had one week left to themselves before the internship started. Then they would be thrust into the life as a doctor. Nobody had mentioned anything about Tye being a Shifter, but everybody had done their fair share of staring while the Chief Resident had spoken.
Tye was waiting for everybody else to disperse before he left so that he wouldn’t have to endure their stares on his back when he walked out. He noticed the coffee shop girl was hanging back too. He wanted to go speak to her again, and smell her intoxicating scent as well. He was in big trouble with her being a part of this internship. He had only bumped into her, and been in the same room with her for an hour or so and he was already wondering when he’d see her next. She finally met his eyes, and then nervously averted them. She hadn’t shown any outward reaction to him being a Shifter this far, which was maybe why he was so drawn to her. All through undergrad he had been shunned, left to study on his own, and was then one of the first freshmen that had been granted off campus housing.
He had plenty of friends back in Haven so he wasn’t upset about not being friends with the humans. It was just that they would be his colleagues one day and he was hoping for a better acceptance.
“Are you going to stalk me now?”
“No, I’m just waiting for everyone to leave. I like to be the last one out of a room.”
“What do you shift into?”
He averted his eyes. “That’s personal.”
“Sorry, I just-“
“A bear.”
“A bear?”
She was looking at him like he was currently in his bear form right now. He wanted to laugh at her sudden interest, but decided best not too. Female Shifters could be touchy, especially the felines, but this human female was definitely the touchiest thing he had ever come across. He knew she was probably waiting for him to specify which type of bear he shifted into, but he liked the sound of her voice so he waited for her to ask.
“I’ve never met a Shifter. How in the world did you end up here?”
“I got here the same as you did. I went to undergrad, and then med school, now I’m just trying to finish everything out with this internship.”
“I’ve just never known a Shifter to go to college let alone medical school. Are you going to practice around here or go back to your town?”
“You also just said you’ve never met a Shifter. If you knew one, then you would know that we want the same things that humans do. We want good health for our family and friends, jobs, and a place to call home. We aren’t so different as everybody thinks. We also don’t need doctors often. We have healers that see to us.”
He hoped he didn’t come off as rude, he hadn’t meant to sound so defensive. He just hated that the humans thought they were so different. They acted like all Shifters were monsters. He definitely didn’t want her to see him as a monster. He could sense that she was at ease with him, but also curious. Those were two good signs. Not that he was sure why he cared, he couldn’t be getting involved with a human.
“Healers? Wow, you’ve officially blown my mind today, as well as my coffee.”
“I’m really sorry about that again. How about I buy you another one now? My name’s Tye by the way.”
She didn’t say anything for a while. He could see the gears turning in her head, trying to weigh his intentions. But he knew the kind of gal that couldn’t turn down free coffee.
“I prefer a French vanilla cappuccino.” She smiled which had his heart racing again. Her smile instantly made his day. Dear Goddess the things he would do to try and see that smile again.
“Should I just call you Ms. Cappuccino then?”
“Melanie, my name is Melanie. It’s nice to meet you Tye.”
“The pleasure has been all mine Melanie.”
Chapter Four
Melanie
Melanie kept telling herself the only reason she was having coffee with Tye was because he owed her one. She was just being polite. She had to keep ignoring the fact that she was enjoying his company. Enjoying it like she hadn’t with any of the dates she’d been on recently. Not that she dated much when you’re in med school, you don’t have time for dating. Her dad refused to allow her to say no to the men he pushed on her though.
Tye was completely comfortable with who he was, and didn’t try to impress her with money or success. He was genuinely interested in her, and laughed when she made a joke. His laugh was a big booming sound that made her insides warm. She really needed to get away from him now, and find a way to squash all the butterflies that were swarming in her belly.
“Melanie, I’m glad that you are ok being in public with me.”
She raised an eyebrow at his comment. It wasn’t so much what he said, but the way he worded it struck her as having an underlying meaning.
“Well you owed me a coffee, you also owe me a dress too if dry cleaning doesn’t get these coffee stains out.”
“Send me a bill. I’d be happy to replace your dress. Of course, with our internship salary, it might be a decade before it gets replaced. Fashion will probably completely change by then, come to think of it.”
“Can I see you shift?” She immediately blushed with her question. It just popped in her mind and a second later was on her lips. She really wanted to see him shift though. He was a such a big man she couldn’t imagine how big a bear he would be.
He coughed into his coffee cup. “I can’t really Shift here, Melanie. Things would get…complicated. Quickly. People would call the cops, who wouldn’t be able to tell if I was some dangerous animal or a Shifter or whatever.”
“What? You’re not an animal. You’re a person, they can’t put you down or tase you.” She was absolutely shocked by his response. Surely it wasn’t really like that.
“Ah, but you forget I am an animal, at least a part of me is. There’s Tye, and then there’s my Kodiak Bear counterpart.”
“You don’t seem very animalistic to me right now thou
gh.”
“That’s because I’ve learned to live with my bear, we’re very in sync, but he’s there. There are things about me that are my bear that you can’t see. Like my sense of smell, and my hearing.”
“Well, maybe another time then. I need to get home. My dad will be waiting to be disappointed that I got into the internship.”
“He’ll be disappointed? I thought you said he was a doctor. I don’t get it.”
“No, if I was a son he’d be thrilled. But he didn’t get a son. He’d like to see me married off to one of his rich buddy’s sons. In his mind I belong in the home cooking, cleaning and reproducing, not in the medical field. He thinks it’s too stressful.”
She could see that Tye was really bothered by her father’s treatment of her. His eyes had darkened just a shade, and his brows had pinched together. His face quickly changed into a giant warm smile that had those stupid butterflies beating themselves senseless in her stomach.
“Well, I’m glad he had a daughter, and in the medical field otherwise I would have never met you.”
“Tye, we just met and you seem like a great guy, but…”
“There’s always a but.”
“I’m serious about this internship. I’m not here to make friends. I’m here to work my ass off and that’s it.”
“That’s it?”
“Yeah, that’s it. I need this. I need it more than I need friends or anything else.” She sighed. “I’ve been told that I’m not a nice person.”
“You seem nice enough to me.”
“Once this internship starts we’re all going to be gunning for Chief Resident, and I’m going to get it. You will be one of the few in my way. I’ll climb right up your back to get where I’m going.”
“I have a very large back. You’d better wear different shoes.” He made the comment while he glanced down at her nude pumps. Not her typical shoe, today was a special occasion though.
She got up and threw her empty cup away, and headed to the door. Tye was right behind her, and held the door open for her. She turned to thank him, and about smacked right into him. Her head came to his collarbone, giving her a very up close view of his incredibly masculine chest. She looked up, and saw that his golden eyes were slightly glowing at her. She desperately wanted to lean up and kiss him to feel how his gorgeously shaped lips would feel against her thin ones. He could probably kiss her into next week. She cleared her throat which currently felt like the damn butterflies were trying to crawl out of right now, and took a step back.
“I guess I’ll see you in a week then, Tye.” She extended her hand to him.
“Surely you know that us bears are huggers.” Before she understood his meaning he wrapped her up in a literal bear hug. She fit snug against his body, and his big arms enclosed her safely there. She had never felt so warm, safe, and turned on all at the same time. Maybe Shifters have some weird magic that they can cast over humans to make them so drawn to them. Melanie had to be under some sort of spell because she had never had feelings like this for a man let alone someone she’s just met. He released her, gave her sexy as hell smile and a wink then strolled off in the opposite direction from her apartment.
She watched him retreat like an idiot before snapping out of it and high tailing it back to her apartment. She spent most of the evening trying to keep herself busy so she wouldn’t think about Tye, and also ignoring her dad’s calls. She knew he would make her feel bad about getting into the internship, and she just wasn’t mentally prepared for that. She also kept wondering what Tye looked like as a bear. A Kodiak bear at that. She didn’t know much about bears, but those were huge.
She had heard once when she was in undergrad, that some of the girls would go over to the local Haven bar. Back then she had no desire to go, but now she was curious. Shifters had always been treated like second class citizens. They were segregated completely off from the human societies, but after meeting Tye she couldn’t understand why. She knew that not all Shifters would be like Tye, but not all humans were either and they got to do what they wanted and go where they please.
She pulled out her laptop and decided to do some research on Shifters. She told herself it was just simply because he was going up against her in the internship, but she knew it was more than that. Tye had gotten under her skin, and affected her unlike any man had ever been able to. She had always prided herself in arming herself with knowledge and this was no different. She needed to know all she could about Shifters.
Chapter Five
Tye
Tye shrugged his clothes off once he entered his apartment, and immediately shifted. The worst apart about going through medical school was that he couldn’t be in his bear form very often. He gave himself a shake all over ridding himself of all the restrictions of his human body. It had taken him forever to find an apartment that was large enough for him in his Kodiak form. He was large as a man, but his bear stood around 8 foot 9 inches tall, and if he had to guess he weighed somewhere around a thousand pounds. He walked around his giant living room complete with mandatory cathedral ceilings, and then slumped himself on the floor, and stretched and rolled around.
It had been a couple days since he had run into Melanie, and he hadn’t been able to get her off of his mind. His bear was anxious he wanted to be around her and make sure she was okay. Tye had no way of getting a hold of her or finding out where she lived so he had been going down to the coffee shop. The people there probably thought he had a real coffee addiction since he had been there a couple times a day in hopes of bumping into her again. At this rate he’d be broke, and have a serious anxiety issue from all the caffeine.
Just being in his bear form made him feel at ease. He needed to run, and hunt to help calm himself. He shifted back to his human form and decided to pack his bags, and go home for a few days before the internship started. It would be a while before he’d have an opportunity to break away, and he knew his bear would be like a caged animal if he didn’t take this opportunity now. He wasn’t that far away from his Haven, but the crazy schedule of an internship he knew it would be rare he could go home. Maybe there would be some fights open so he could burn off some steam.
The leader of the Haven didn’t like the fights that the local bar set up, but he couldn’t stop them he knew that the Shifters needed a safe place to handle their aggression. They never fought to the death, and usually the wounds were easily healed without a healer being required. Tye had fought in them some, but he had never been an overly hostile bear. He had fought in them more since joining the human world because they made him feel so shy and clumsy; two things he normally was not and his bear didn’t like the feeling either. It helped him reassert himself and get his confidence back up.
The drive over was beautiful with the fall foliage coming on, and leaves were falling along the little highway that wound around the mountains. The holidays were right around the corner which meant winter was coming. Every bear loved winter, and Tye was no different. He couldn’t wait for the first snow fall. He just hoped he wouldn’t be so busy at the internship that he could sneak away to enjoy it. Finally, the gates of his town came into view. He hated the gates because it seemed like a cage, but the humans knew if the Shifters wanted to knock them down and insert themselves into society they could. The Shifters didn’t want any conflict though and preferred to stay to themselves within their own clans anyways. Humans were jumpy creatures, and didn’t take too well to seeing a lion or bear casually walking down the street.
His mom, Sharon, was waiting on the front porch of their ranch style house when he pulled up.
“Tye, what are you doing home baby?”
“I have a few days until my internship, and I wanted to get away. It might be a while before I get to stretch my legs again.”
“I worry about you cooped up in that city. The bad air, the bad food. Come in, I just got a shipment of that honey you like. I’ll make you some toast with it.”
Kenny (Shifter Football League Book 2) Page 93